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Reply to Comments Received in Submissions on the Proposed Export and Import of Hazardous Waste and Hazardous Recyclable Material Regulations

Comments and Reply: Conditions of Export and Import

A number of comments were received from both industry and association stakeholders with respect to the conditions of export and import set out in the proposed Regulations. Industry stakeholders commented that:

An allowance has been made for a 'problem load notification' that is 'imported but not accepted' (Section 12) to occur within five (5) days of arrival. It will be impossible in certain cases to accept the wastes in these 5 days, depending on the type of analysis that is required.

Environment Canada should extend this to 30 days, a more realistic timeline.

Section 8(b) states that if necessary, the exporter will store the hazardous waste/recyclable in a facility authorized to store the waste or material by the authorities of the jurisdiction in which the facility is located. The requirement to locate an available authorized facility in the specific jurisdiction may be difficult. It is also unclear what defines a jurisdiction.

Response: Environment Canada agrees that five days may not be sufficient to undertake the type of analysis required for facilities to accept hazardous wastes or hazardous recyclable materials. As such, this provision has been removed from the proposed Regulations. Typically, the jurisdiction in which the facility is located sets out how long a waste or material may be stored before it must be disposed of or recycled.

Section 16(o)(ii) has been included in the proposed Regulations, since not all facilities are authorized by their jurisdiction to store hazardous wastes or recyclable materials in the event that these materials are not accepted by the receiving site. If the facility is authorized to store the waste or materials, it may do so until an alternate arrangement can be made, as approved by the Minister. The provincial authority authorizes the facility in the case of an import; the competent authority of the country in the case of an export.